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John Lackey
John Derran Lackey (born October 23, 1978) is an American professional baseball pitcher with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Lackey was drafted by the Anaheim Angels in 1999 and helped the franchise win its first World Series title in 2002, which was his first season in the major leagues. In 2007, he led the American League in earned run average and was also named to the All-Star team for the first time. When he became a free agent in 2009, Lackey signed with the Boston Red Sox. In 2011, he had one of the worst seasons by a starting pitcher in Red Sox history and the team missed the playoffs by one game after leading in the Wild Card race by 9½ games in September. After missing the next year while recovering from elbow surgery, Lackey rebounded in 2013 and helped the Red Sox win the World Series. Los Angeles Angels 2002 Lackey was called up to the bigs on June 24, dropping his first major league start against the Texas Rangers. He was optioned back to Salt Lake, until he was recalled to replace pitcher Al Levine on June 28. On June 30, he replaced Scott Schoeneweis in the Angels' rotation and gained his first victory against the cross-town rival Los Angeles Dodgers. Lackey was the winning pitcher for the American League Wild Card-clinching victory against Texas on September 26. With the AL Wild Card in hand, the Angels began their march through the 2002 postseason, facing the feared New York Yankees in the ALDS. Lackey made his relief and postseason debut in Game 3, allowing two earned runs in the midst of an Angels rally to win 9–6. He gained his first postseason victory against the Minnesota Twins in Game 4 of the ALCS, pitching seven innings while allowing only three hits and striking out seven. With their victory in five games over the Twins, the Angels earned their first American League pennant and made their first trip to the World Series. After starter Kevin Appier was pulled after two-plus innings in Game 2, Lackey pitched two innings giving up two earned runs on two hits, receiving a no-decision in the eventual 11–10 Angel victory over the San Francisco Giants. He started Game 4 of the Series, pitching four scoreless innings, but gaining a no-decision after allowing three hits and three earned runs in the 5th inning in the eventual Angels loss. However, it was in Game 7 of the World Series on October 27, 2002, Lackey allowed one earned run on four hits while striking out four in five innings, allowing the Angels to hold an early 4–1 lead to hand over to their bullpen trio of Brendan Donnelly, Francisco Rodríguez, and Troy Percival to seal their World Series title. Lackey became only the second rookie in World Series history to start and win Game 7, the other being Babe Adams of the 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates. 2003-06 Mike Scioscia announced that Lackey would start on 2003's Opening Day, replacing injured ace Jarrod Washburn. Lackey struggled his sophomore year, compiling a 10–16 record with a 4.63 ERA while leading the team in hits allowed, earned runs allowed, and wild pitches. He improved in 2004, with a record of 14–13 and a 4.67 ERA, helping the Angels win their first division title since 1986. The 2005 campaign saw Lackey mature further, working into the sixth inning in 30 of his 36 starts, earning a 14–5 record with a 3.44 ERA. He ranked second in strikeouts per nine innings (with 8.6 K/9 IP) and third in strikeouts (199). However, he retained a bit of his wild nature with the third most wild pitches in the league. After the Angels placed 2005 Cy Young winner Bartolo Colón on the disabled list in 2006, Lackey emerged as the team's ace, and skipper Mike Scioscia made him the number one starter after the All-Star break. On July 7, 2006, Lackey retired 27 batters in a row after Mark Kotsay of the Oakland Athletics led off the first inning with double, coming within one out of a perfect game. He threw a career high 30⅔ scoreless innings from July 2, 2006 through July 19, 2006, when he gave up a fifth-inning home run to Ben Broussard of the Cleveland Indians and The Lackey's Scoreless Innings Streak was 5⅓ innings short of the club record for consecutive scoreless innings, set by Jim McGlothlin in 1967. He was later named American League Pitcher of the Month for July 2006. 2007-09 On June 13, 2007, Lackey became the first pitcher to win 10 games for the 2007 season. On July 1, Lackey was named as one of three Angels to represent the club and the American League at the 2007 All-Star Game. Lackey finished the 2007 season with an American League leading 3.01 ERA. He was rewarded for his excellent season with a third-place finish in that season's Cy Young Award voting. On July 10, 2008, Lackey allowed six runs on 15 hits in 5⅔ innings. The 15 hits tied an all-time Angels franchise record for hits allowed by a starter in a single game. On July 18, 2008, Lackey recorded his 1000th career strikeout against Kevin Youkilis of the Boston Red Sox. Lackey was the sixth Angels pitcher to accomplish that feat. On July 29, 2008, Lackey pitched against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, carrying a no-hitter into the ninth inning. He came within two outs of a no-hitter before Dustin Pedroia singled to left to spoil it. The next batter, Kevin Youkilis, hit a two-run homer to break up the shutout. Lackey still finished the game and the Angels won 6–2. In Game 1 of the 2008 ALDS, he gave up a two-run home run to Jason Bay of the Boston Red Sox, and was charged with the Angels' first loss in the series. In his first start of 2009, on May 16, Lackey was ejected after his first two pitches of the season in a game against the Texas Rangers. Lackey threw his first pitch behind Ian Kinsler's head, and hit Kinsler in the side with his second pitch. Home plate umpire Bob Davidson ejected Lackey without hesitation. Since Kinsler scored, Lackey was charged with an earned run, giving him an ERA of infinity. Kinsler had hit two home runs against the Angels the night before. On August 30, 2009, Lackey earned his 100th career win against the Oakland Athletics, giving up one run (on an error by shortstop Erick Aybar) through eight innings. Lackey is one of only 6 major league pitchers who won at least 11 games in each year from 2004 to 2009, the others being CC Sabathia, Derek Lowe, Johan Santana, Javier Vázquez, and Jason Marquis. At the end of the 2009 season Lackey became a free agent, widely regarded as the best free agent starting pitcher on the 2010 market. Baseball Prospectus declared, "Lackey stands alone as the best of the best, a relatively young righty who carries significantly less risk than the other high-upside hurlers", additionally noting he faced a tough division and tougher league and his statistics would likely be even better if he were a National League pitcher. As one of the top free agent starters on the market, he was predicted to command a deal worth around $70 to $80 million, similar to the deal A. J. Burnett received from the Yankees. Lackey drew interest from many teams, including the Seattle Mariners, the Milwaukee Brewers, the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, the Boston Red Sox, and the Pittsburgh Pirates. He formally declined the Angels' offer of salary arbitration on December 8. Boston Red Sox (2010–present) On December 16, 2009, Lackey officially signed a 5-year contract worth $82.5 million with the Boston Red Sox. On April 7, 2010 Lackey made his debut for Boston at Fenway Park against the Yankees, pitching 6 innings of 3-hit shut-out ball. 2010 Lackey posted a 10–5 record and a 4.26 ERA during the first half of the 2010 season and finished his first season with the Red Sox with a 14–11 record, 4.40 ERA over 215 innings pitched. 2011 Lackey went 2–5 with an 8.01 ERA in his first seven starts, and in May, he was placed on the disabled list with an elbow strain in his throwing arm.18 Lackey returned shortly, recording an ERA over 5.00 in every month but one. In 28 starts, Lackey finished the season 12–12 with a 6.41 ERA and 1.62 WHIP, both career worsts. The 114 earned runs he allowed were the most in the American League, and his ERA was the highest in Red Sox history for a starter with at least 150 innings pitched. In the end of the 2011 season, Lackey and two more starting pitchers (Josh Beckett and Jon Lester, allegedly) were in the center of a controversy that told that the three (and sometimes more) drank beers and ate fried chicken in the clubhouse during games in which they were not pitching. 2012 During a press conference, Ben Cherington, the new GM of the Boston Red Sox, revealed that John Lackey had Tommy John surgery during the 2011 offseason. As a result, Lackey did not pitch for the entire 2012 season. Lackey was later seen drinking beer in the clubhouse during his rehabilitation, causing further controversy. 2013 On April 6, 2013 Lackey injured his arm in his first start since September 2011. The Red Sox announced it was a right biceps strain. On April 28, Lackey got his first win since the 2011 season going six innings, giving up one run and five hits in a 6-1 win over the Houston Astros. On October 30, 2013. Lackey was the winning pitcher in Game 6 of the 2013 World Series, which clinched the Boston Red Sox eighth World Series title. In doing so, Lackey became the first starting pitcher in Major League history to win two World Series "clinching" games with two different teams.